


medium mocha, extra shot

by helpmeimstuckon



Series: coffee shop au i'll title later [1]
Category: Runaways (Comics), Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Jealous Gert, Jealousy, Pining, accurate coffee shop terminology, trust me i'm a barista
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 03:49:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13091811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helpmeimstuckon/pseuds/helpmeimstuckon
Summary: Chase, despite her active choice not to care about the customers, was her favorite regular. Timely was such a great place that half of the customers were regulars, who she had the drink orders of memorized within a month of working there, but she had memorized Chase’s order in a week.





	medium mocha, extra shot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alicia_Antioch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alicia_Antioch/gifts).



Gert was being a Bad Feminist ™. Jealousy was below her, anyway. She was above crushes and feelings, and anything except for slowly overthrowing the government from the inside and making enough coffee to pay for the poli sci degree she needed to do so.

She did  _ not _ give a shit that Chase had brought some  _ girl _ with him today. 

Chase, despite her active choice not to care about the customers, was her favorite regular. Timely was such a great place that  _ half  _ of the customers were regulars, who she had the drink orders of memorized within a month of working there, but she had memorized Chase’s order in a week. 

He was sweet. He was a little thick headed sometimes, and once asked for extra ‘express-o’ when he ordered, but he was nice to talk to, and half the time sat at the counter next to the espresso machine and talked to her while she pulled shots and cleaned. He seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say about the news of the day, mostly seemed to agree with her, and when he didn’t understand he didn’t mind listening to her rant on about whatever the issue was, trying to explain and getting too caught up in the inevitable injustice. Sometimes he took his drink and sat at a table to do some homework. She knew from the textbooks that he was beyond smart. He was handling material that the thirteen year old who wanted to be an engineer but wasn’t good enough at math for it always joked about majoring in. She always managed to wander about to wipe down the vacant tables near him and give him a justifiable distraction from getting anything done. 

So, yeah, she had a favorite regular. And she had a crush on that regular. But she had a crush on him the way you have a crush on the weatherman or the girl who works at the auto body shop you take your piece of shit junker to to keep it running. It’s within context. Comes with the job. It’s not real. It’s nothing to be jealous about. But she still is, having to fight to keep the smile on her face that sparked when she heard his voice call over the counter. 

“Hey, Gert.” Purple hair bounced as her head whipped around from the milk fridge she was restocking, smiling bright. Her eyes fall all too quickly to the blonde at his side. It clicks in her head, heart stopping a little. They look good next to each other. Like a couple in a Kohl's ad. She wipes her hands on her apron. 

“Chase.” She greets. “How are you guys doing today?” 

The blonde answers, and Gert has to fight to keep from feeling annoyed. “Good! It’s nice and sunny out today.” She’s pretty, and smiling so bright she practically glows, and Gert figures in another situation she’d think she’s pretty hot too, but it’s not another situation, it’s a girl with Chase, and that annoys her more than it should be allowed to.

“Well it  _ is  _ California.” Gert replied, a little more bite in her voice than she’d normally allow for a customer. “You want your regular Chase?”

“Yes.” he replied when her eyes flicked to him, doing a bad job of masking the furrow in his brow. “And whatever Karo wants, too.” 

“Large cold brew with,” her eyes scanned the board behind Gert’s head. “A shot of macadamia nut. Soy milk on the side.” The blonde,  _ Karo _ , replied. Gert scoffed internally, of course she wants it  _ on the side. _ It’s not like Gert could do it herself. Not like she does this for a living or anything. “I’m Karolina, by the way. I’m sure you’ve heard lots about me.” She says it in a way that implies that she probably hasn’t heard anything, and even though Gert recognizes the name from a conversation or two with Chase, she can’t help but feel petty. 

“Not that I can recall.” She replied with a forced smile, writing Karolina’s order on a cup, and Chase’s name on his, before cashing them out. Chase paid. She doesn’t know why it adds so much fuel to the fire of her annoyance that he paid for Karolina's too. It doesn’t take long to make them their drinks, and instead of talking with her like Chase normally does, he and  _ Karo _ stand a few feet away from the pick up counter, talking in short bursts. Gert can tell something is up with them, Karolina seems nervous once they don’t have buffer of the annoying barista to help conversation, and after they pick up their drinks they wander off to a corner away from the counter, far from where Chase would normally be, and sit to talk. Gert tries not to be hurt by it. 

Through the next half hour or so, Gert keeps an eye on the pair in the corner. She maybe lingers too long on the closest table she has an excuse to clean, but she can’t quite hear what they’re saying. Karolina seems to be doing most of the talking, hands flitting around, but Gert sees plainly as Chase cuts her off, his hand reaching to take hers from where it had been flitting around nervously. She can’t tell what he’s saying, but she can see the warmth and fondness in his eye. He hugs her before they go, and Gert chalks up the ache in her chest to over caffeination. 

* * *

“So…” Chase was next to the espresso machine again, no blonde in sight. “Did I do something? Like to piss you off? Conflate fascism and dictatorship or...?”

Gert was cleaning the same spot on the counter over and over, and hadn’t realized she hadn’t given a proper response in a solid few minutes until he spoke up about it. “What? No, uh, no. I wouldn’t be mad about that anyway all forms of fascism are dictatorial. They rely on the structure.” She said, dodging the original question.

“Cool, right.” he said, nodding, lips forming a hard line after them. He seemed to think about speaking a few times as she dropped her eyes to look for something new to clean. “So, I didn’t do anything wrong?” He asked, brow lifting with worry. “If I did, I totally apologize, I’d just… like to know what I’m apologizing for, is all.”

“I… I think I’ve just been in a funk since yesterday. Not your fault.” she said, scrubbing at the steam wand on the espresso machine. “So, uh… did your  _ girlfriend  _ like the place?” She asked, trying to seem casual. “You guys looked like you were having  _ quite  _ the conversation yesterday.”

“My… Oh, oh no Karo isn’t my girlfriend.” he said, straightening up. “No, no, no, uh… I did kinda have a crush on her and we kissed, but that… huh yeah,  yesterday was the farthest thing from anything romantic.” 

“Really? Looked from here like trouble in gorgeous people paradise.”

Chase actually laughed, head shaking, and the butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach fluttered around. “It was quite literally the opposite of a relationship-y conversation. She was… actually I don’t know if it’s my business to tell you.” He said, looking at her, nose scrunched in a way that made him look younger somehow. “I think that’s one of those things you told me back on national coming out day, and fuck, I basically just said the thing anyway.” he reached and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Don’t tell her I told you yeah?” 

Gert’s eyes had gone soft, any malice towards the girl dropping away. “Oh, of course. I wouldn’t care anyway.” she said, eyes dropping. “Queer solidarity, and all. Gotta stick together.”

Gert felt, more so than saw, Chase stiffen, his jaw going tight. “Oh.” He said, as she looked back up at him. “Oh your… That’s cool, that’s totally cool I’m trying to be a good ally and all, so that’s cool, that-” 

“If you say cool again I might have to call an ambulance as a precursor for the stroke you’re clearly having.” Gert said.

Chase cleared his throat. “Sorry, didn’t, uh… I guess it just proves there’s no way to tell if someone’s gay, right?” 

Gert shrugged. “Can’t tell if they’re Bi, really, but… Can’t tell if someone’s straight either.” 

Chase lit up a little as she spoke, latching on to the first thing she said. “You’re bi then?” He asked, a soft smile on his lips. “Again, it’s cool, I’m totally-”

“A good ally. I get it.” she promised, smiling a little. “You sound like my sister. And yes, I’m bi. Completely and totally attracted to all genders.” If Gert had to make a list of the stupidest conversations she’d had, talking about her all around attraction to the singular person she was attracted to was top ten. She felt the blush on her cheeks, and shrugged, eyes dropping back down. 

“That’s cool.” he said, the smirk on his face said he knew exactly what he was doing. 

Gert bit her tongue behind her lips, a reminder not to say something stupid back, like for example the next thing that left her mouth. “Cool.” 

Chase’s phone buzzed on the counter, and it was only then Gert realized she was leaning against the counter towards him, and pushed away. Chase checked his phone, and his face scrunched. “Shit, I forgot I have practice today. Normally we don’t on Fridays.”

“Oh, sure, right.” She said, with a nod. “You should go, then.”

“Yeah.” Chase agreed, sliding out of the seat, tucking his phone in his pocket, and sliding his bag on to this shoulder in one move.  _ Smooth _ , she couldn’t help but inexplicably think. “I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow I guess.”

“Uh, no, actually, I don’t work Saturdays.” Gert corrected, words stopping him just as he started to turn away. “So, another time then-”

“Would you want to see me tomorrow?” Chase looked shocked by what he’d blurted out, and Gert could feel that shock mirrored on her own face. “I mean… would it be horrible to ask if you wanted to get coffee sometime? I don’t want to be that guy hitting on the girl who’s only nice to him in the confines of the-”

“Situation.” Gert didn’t mean to speak, but now that she had she realized it was her turn to answer him anyway. “You aren’t, you wouldn’t, I don’t… I would like to see you tomorrow. But, not coffee” 

The light laugh of relief that left his lips was a song bird perching on her shoulder. “Okay, okay, cool.” He held out his phone, “I’ll text you, just put your number in.”

* * *

They didn’t get coffee. He picked her up, taking her to the observatory, bringing a picnic basket, and an apology for being heteronormative about the whole thing. Gert quickly learned that the warm look she saw him giving Karolina didn’t  hold a candle to the look he gave her after he kissed her.


End file.
